Funding for Public Service Broadcast Programmes and Promoting Local English-language Programmes

Ms Janice Koh asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts in the last five years (a) how much funding has been provided for Public Service Broadcast programmes; (b) how is the funding distributed between MediaCorp and other independent companies; (c) how does MDA measure the effectiveness of its funding and ensure that high-quality standards are met; and (d) what have been the television and online viewership figures for these programmes.

Ms Janice Koh asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts what is being done to increase the quality and popularity of original English-language programming in light of decreasing viewership figures for Channel 5 .

The Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Sir, with your permission, can I take Question Nos 12 and 13 together?

Mr Speaker: Yes, please.

Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Thank you. Sir, Public Service Broadcast (PSB) programmes aim to foster a cohesive and informed society, as well as to celebrate our shared identity. They are provided primarily via MediaCorp's free-to-air TV and radio, and have been introduced on the Internet in recent years. Over the past five years, the Media Development Authority (MDA) has provided about $470 million of support to PSB funding.

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Each year, PSB funding caters for over 2,000 hours of local productions. In the past year, 40% of local PSB productions were outsourced to independent production companies, an increase of about 10% since 2005. The remaining 60% were produced in-house by MediaCorp. I would like to emphasise that the requirement for MediaCorp to outsource productions to independent companies is an important part of the PSB framework as it helps to ensure a larger pool of creative ideas for quality PSB programmes and contributes to the development of the local production sector.

I am happy to share that nine in 10 TV viewers in Singapore, or about 4.3 million viewers, have watched locally-produced PSB programmes last year. In addition, PSB content on MediaCorp's XinMSN online portal garnered a total of 4.4 million views in the past year.

The hon Member has also asked how we measure the effectiveness of PSB in delivering high quality programmes. MDA has put in place a performance management framework which seeks to ensure accountability and effectiveness in the use of PSB funds. Allow me, Sir, to elaborate.

First and foremost, feedback is gathered from the public and Government stakeholders to ensure that relevant issues of importance to local viewers are used to guide the development of PSB programmes. This includes consultations with MDA's community-based Programme Advisory Committees. Secondly, surveys are conducted to measure public satisfaction with the quality and engagement value of PSB programmes. Thirdly, viewership ratings for PSB programmes and the reach of platforms carrying PSB content are measured; and lastly, MICA and MDA regularly engage MediaCorp to identify areas of improvement based on stakeholders' feedback and the performance measurement results.

Ms Koh has also raised concerns about Channel 5's decreasing viewership figures. In fact, I am told that as at June this year, Channel 5's average daily prime-time reach has actually increased to 650,000 viewers, up slightly from the past three year's average of 610,000 viewers. Nonetheless, Sir, I believe MediaCorp is not resting on its laurels and is well aware that to sustain and grow its viewership in the longer run, it must continue with efforts to provide quality productions. This is because our local TV channels are facing intense competition for viewership due to media convergence. In particular, Channel 5 has had to contend with the wide availability and volume of English programmes from other markets, such as the US and the UK, which Internet-savvy Singaporeans can easily access.

Sir, I certainly agree with the Member that we need to do more to increase the quality and reach of our local PSB programmes. This was also reiterated by the PSB Review Panel, which had submitted its recommendations during the Budget Debate earlier this year. MICA and MDA have been studying the Panel's recommendations and we will be announcing our implementation plans soon.

But let me also share on the key ongoing efforts to ensure that our audiences are engaged and their public viewing interests are met. In particular, let me highlight some examples on Channel 5 .

Channel 5 has increased its local prime-time content hours by 20%, which includes a mix of information, drama, local sports and variety programmes. The House may be familiar with well-received PSB-funded local programmes, such as the legal drama, "The Pupil", which was produced by an independent production company. MediaCorp's in-house productions include the local trivia game show, "We Are Singaporeans", and the football reality series, "First XI". These programmes are also part of MediaCorp's "360 degree" approach to engage viewers through original content on TV, applications on mobile devices, and web-only content on the Internet.

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Sir, last but not least, I understand that Channel 5 has also been part of MediaCorp's ramped-up audience engagement strategy, reaching out to younger viewers in particular, through online and social media platforms. In summary, I would like to assure the House that MICA and MDA will continue to work closely with MediaCorp so that it maintains effective platforms for the delivery of quality PSB content. I look forward to sharing further details when we announce the Government's response to the PSB Review Panel's recommendations.

Ms Janice Koh (Nominated Member): I thank the Minister for his response. I have to declare my interest being on "The Pupil". Sir, I have two supplementary questions. In view of the rising cost of production and the cost of labour, many independent production houses are finding it difficult to produce quality programmes under tight budgets. Does MICA feel that PSB funding is adequate or is it increasing in line with rising cost? Is this funding given directly to the independent production houses or is it channelled through the broadcaster who decides on how much is disbursed or outsourced to the production houses?

My second supplementary question is with regard to evaluating quality. How is consideration given to measuring programmes that are critically successful, as opposed to simply using viewership and ratings as a measure of that success, in view of the fact that original local content may take longer to build local audiences?

Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: I thank the Member for the two questions. On the first question, we agree with the Member that cost is a concern. For this year's funding, we are keeping to the same level as last year's spending on the PSB. But there are other avenues in which production houses can avail themselves of support from MDA. MDA, in fact, has just recently sorted out all the grants that are available into four or five grants which are available to all companies out there who wish to do talent development and things that lead to higher production quality in terms of local content. We are concerned, too, that local content is something which we should pay more attention to.

On the Member's question as to whether or not the money is channelled directly to the broadcaster or is also given to independent producers, there is a split. This is best left to MDA to decide. As I mentioned in my reply, there is a framework in which we want a certain amount of PSB funding to go to independent companies, which had happened in the past. Going forward, how do we ensure that there is a level playing field: this is something which we will continue to negotiate with the broadcaster and, of course, with the independent production houses.

On the Member's question on how we ensure that when we evaluate quality, we do give our local companies some sort of a longer runway to develop their capability and develop that cache, so to speak, among Singaporean viewers; we recognise that the competition against imported programmes is a tough challenge. But having said that, if we look at the statistics in the last five years or so, which I have seen recently, the number of local independent production companies which have come forward, submitted proposals and have actually availed themselves of the PSB funding, has been on the rise. So, it shows that the eco-system is working. But we will certainly explore more ways to help more companies to come forward and avail themselves. The key question is really talent development. That is why one of the recommendations by the PSB Review Panel – there are three recommendations actually – one is to increase funding, second is basically talent development, and I cannot remember the third one at the moment. But talent development is a very important part, so that our local production companies can really do good work. As I mentioned earlier, there are funding available through MDA which they can avail themselves of these funds.

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Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines): Sir, I would like to ask the Minister, given that the PSB budget was previously funded by the TV and Radio licence fees collected and now that the fees have been removed, how would the Ministry be ring-fencing, maintaining, or even enhancing the PSB budget so that we can raise the quality of programmes?

Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, the condition for us to abolish the TV and Radio licence is for us to ensure funding from MOF for PSB programmes. We are in negotiations with MOF. As I mentioned in my reply earlier, the review from the PSB Panel has, in fact, asked us to do more. So, we are in negotiations with MOF. But the most important thing is that we have kept, at least, in the first instance, the same level as it was for last year, that is, about $110 million. But going forward, I agree with the Member that we will have to look at this very closely because, whatever the amount is, the money must be well spent to serve our overall purpose.

Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, I want to join in the discussion. There is one main buyer in this industry, which is MediaCorp, and often the smaller production houses do not get a good price for the programmes. The Minister earlier said that he is evaluating the process to ensure fairness. I would like to understand what are some of these thought processes.

Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I think the Member is referring to how we allocate PSB funding, not buying of programmes. The main broadcaster is MediaCorp, and the money goes to MediaCorp. But in the framework for PSB funding, we insist that MediaCorp must outsource some of the production to independent local companies. As I mentioned in my reply, 40% of the funding actually goes to local production companies. So, they have to bid for it. Obviously, we have to look at the quality of their proposals. But having said that, as I replied to the hon Member, Ms Janice Koh, there are other sources of funding in which local production houses can avail themselves to improve their ability to bid through talent development and other grants which MDA has announced recently.